


SERE

by Arduinna



Category: I Spy (1965)
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Yuletide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-20
Updated: 2012-12-20
Packaged: 2017-11-21 16:57:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/600038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arduinna/pseuds/Arduinna
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Survival, Evasion, Recovery, Embrace</p>
            </blockquote>





	SERE

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sarahenany](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarahenany/gifts).



"Scotty, you all right?" Kelly asked from across the clearing.

Scotty breathed carefully, balanced on hands and knees, riding out the blazing streak of pain across his ribs. Still breathing, that was good. Better than the guy lying on the ground a few steps in front of him, anyway. Score one for the good guys. He blew out a short, sharp breath as the pain spiked, reaching for an equilibrium point he could deal with.

"Scotty?" Kelly was moving closer. Bad guys must all be taken care of if Kelly was paying attention to him instead. That was good, too. 

"Scotty, man, you're starting to worry me." Kelly stepped closer, his vocal pitch rising.

_There._ The pain leveled off, and Scotty sucked in a steadying breath. "Yeah. 'm okay." He cleared his throat, shaking his head a little. "Mostly."

Kelly dropped to a crouch next to him. "What do you mean, 'mostly'?"

Scotty sat back on his heels, moving as carefully as he could, so Kelly could see the spreading red stain across his shirt.

"Ah, jeez."

Huh. He had to admit, it was pretty impressive. "Would you look at that? Man, that's never going to come out."

"No, no it's not," Kelly agreed.

"My mom sent me this shirt," Scotty mourned, poking at the bloody fabric.

"All right, now," Kelly said. His eyes were still battle-sharp but his touch was gentle as he caught Scotty's hand and pushed it aside, then eased the ruined cloth up over the wound.

"It was to replace the one that got wrecked in Monaco a couple months ago, you remember?" He rubbed his wet hand on his jeans, watching as they started turning red, too.

"I remember," Kelly said, probing delicately around the wound. "Well, I think you'll live. It doesn't look too deep." His fingers prodded closer to the edge.

"Ow."

Kelly tsked, taking a clean-ish bit of cloth to wipe away some of the blood. "Easy does it, Homer. And don't you worry about the shirt. I'll buy you a new one, your mom'll never know." 

"What, like buying a replacement goldfish when one dies?"

"Exactly like that, yes." Kelly cast a glance around the clearing, tallying up the bodies.

"I dunno, Kel. I think a mom always knows."

Kelly grinned tightly. "We'll give it a shot anyway, whaddya say?"

"Well, all right, if you think so."

"I do indeed. I tell you what, though. We are not going anywhere unless we can get that bleeding stopped. It may not be deep, but that is a pretty raggedy slice you have there, my man."

"Well, when I get sliced up, I do it properly, you see." 

"True, true." Kelly looked around again, frowning. "Hang on." He squeezed Scotty's shoulder and stood up, moving to the nearest body. "This the knife that got you?" he asked, toeing it aside in the grass.

"Yeah. He got sloppy so I took it away from him. Seemed only polite to give it back, though."

"You have always been the soul of politeness," Kelly agreed, sidestepping the bloody grass around the legs and dropping to his knees by the torso. He had the man stripped to the skin above the waist in no time, then tugged his belt off. "Waste not, want not, right?"

"Right," Scotty agreed. "Why exactly are we not wasting that man's belt?"

"For want of some tape, of course."

"Of course. Hey, get the knife, too."

"But you gave it back to him! It is hardly polite to change your mind about something like that."

"Well, yes, ordinarily that would be true, but as you can see, the man did not want it. He pulled it out and threw it on the ground there before he fell down."

"You make a good point, sir." Kelly scooped up the knife, wiping it off on the grass before shoving it into his waistband and moving back over to Scotty. "I'd rather have my gun, but at least we've got something now."

Scotty nodded, watching as Kelly folded the man's shirt into a tight square, then reached out to push Scotty's shirt back up from where it had slid down over the gash again. Scotty got a hand on it, holding the cloth up out of the way.

Kelly glanced an apology at him and then pushed the edges of the wound together with one hand as he laid the makeshift bandage against it with the other, pushing hard. 

Scotty sucked in a hard breath.

"Sorry, man, this needs the pressure."

"I know," Scotty said between his teeth. "'S all right. Thus the belt, right?"

"You got it," Kelly said. "Hold that."

Scotty held the bandage down, careful to keep as much pressure on it as Kelly had had. Even a small wound could bleed a lot on the run if they let it, and he'd already lost more than was good for him.

Kelly pulled him forward a bit to get the belt around him, settling cool leather against his skin and pulling it tight as Scotty carefully slipped his fingers out from underneath it. "There," Kelly said, looking pleased with his handiwork. "You're gonna set a new trend, man. Belted waists without the trousers."

"Regular fashion plate, that's me," Scotty agreed, gathering himself to stand up.

Dogs began barking in the distance. "I do believe that's our cue," Kelly said, popping up to his feet and reaching a hand down to help. "You good to walk?" 

"Indubitably," Scotty said, grabbing Kelly's hand. He grunted as he made it to his feet; help or no help, man, that slice hurt.

"All right, then, it is time for us to go," Kelly said. The dogs already sounded closer. "Right now."

"You said it, Jack." Scotty zipped his jacket up to help hold the makeshift bandage in place. "You still have the microfilm?"

Kelly patted a zippered pocket. "Safe and sound."

"Good." He nodded to the left, where bracken gave way to trees. "That way, I think."

"Yeah, I think you're right." Kelly blew out a sharp breath. "Okay, let's go."

They headed out, skirting the bodies lying on the ground with barely a second glance. 

~~~

Scotty relaxed a little once they made it into the trees; it wasn't any safer, really, but it felt less like there was a target painted directly on their backs. It was colder here out of the direct sun, the air sharper with a pine-scented bite to it.

They settled into a brisk walk without discussing it, both to spare Scotty's wound and cut down on the risk of tripping over roots and rocks underfoot. Spring may have brought new leaves to dapple the sunlight, but last year's fallen leaves and and needles made for a potentially treacherous layer.

Kelly took the lead, just a step or two ahead of Scotty, checking the ground and varying their route so no one could follow them in a straight line. Scotty focused on Kelly's feet, following almost exactly in his footsteps, trusting him to keep an eye out for any danger. His side had started turning into a deep ache, but every heel strike added a bright blaze of pain on top of that. And worse, every blaze of pain drove out the niggling thought that was trying to form, leaving him with a vague sense of urgent worry. He frowned at the ground, trying to chase it down.

"I was thinking," Kelly said, sidestepping a tumble of rocks and reaching a hand back to steer Scotty around as well. 

"Mm?"

"Those guys knew exactly where we'd be. Not just who we are, but where we'd be."

Ah. That was it. "There's a mole in the department."

"There is a mole in the department. And you know what that means?"

"They know exactly where we're going." 

"They know exactly where we're going." Kelly stopped and turned to face him, a tight grin plastered on his face, eyes dark and angry. "We are walking into a trap, my man."

"The wonderfulness of that," Scotty muttered, exhaustion hitting like a wave. 

"Whoa, hey, here," Kelly said, grabbing him and easing him down against a tree trunk.

Scotty waved him away, irritated. "I'm all right, just got a little tired, we've been walking a lot. Just need a minute to rest."

"Sure," Kelly said, rolling his shoulders and bouncing a little on his heels, angry energy sparking off him. "You stay put and rest a bit. I'm gonna find a tree I can climb, see if I can't find us another way outta here."

Scotty grunted agreement, leaning his head back against the trunk and shutting his eyes. He could hear Kelly moving off, quick light steps rustling across the forest floor and then finally fading away into silence. His own breathing filled his ears, a little ragged and loud but smoothing out, slowly blending into the forest sounds around him. 

He could tell that the bandage hadn't stopped the bleeding, not with all the moving he'd been doing, but the stillness was helping. Without the constant jarring the pain in his side slowly subsided into a steady glowing ember, something he could get a handle on. He breathed around it, willing it to recede. 

Footsteps alerted him, and he opened his eyes as Kelly approached. He was still sparking energy, but with as much hope now as anger. 

"Find something?"

"I did indeed." Kelly grinned down at him, bright and sharp. "There's a river about a mile west of here."

"Our contact is east."

"Yep. And as long as I was wandering around, I backtracked us a bit and laid a fake trail heading more directly east than we've been going. Won't fool anyone for long, but should be long enough for us to lose our trail in the river."

"I like the way you think, sir."

"Certainly," Kelly said affably, but there was a faint frown between his eyes. "You doing okay, Scotty?"

"What? Sure." Oh. Right. He was still on the ground. He got a hand down on the ground to push himself up, leaning into the hand Kelly slid under his arm to help.

"Atta boy, up you go."

Scotty braced himself against the tree for a moment, getting his balance, then nodded at Kelly. "All right. Lead on, MacDuff."

Kelly squeezed his arm and let go, striking off into the woods at an angle. "This way. Not too far now," he promised.

The relative peace and control of Scotty's near-meditation was shattered with his first step, as the wound on his side awoke in a bright line of fire. He sucked in a sharp breath through gritted teeth and dropped his head. This was going to be a very long mile.

He let himself sink into the rhythm of the walk, the steady repetition of step-pain, step-pain, trusting Kelly to keep him on track. 

"Scotty. Hey, Scotty. We're here."

Scotty blinked and stopped, realizing he'd been hearing the river's noise rising steadily for a while. "Oh. Good." Actually, that river was... loud. Really loud. He looked at it properly and blanched.

"Uh, Kel."

Kelly glanced over at him. "Scotty? C'mon, man, we gotta go, we don't have a choice, here."

"I know," Scotty said, staring down at the rushing water. 

"Hey, maybe it'll stop the last of that bleeding, right?"

Scotty took a deep breath. "Yeah, okay. You're right. Let's go, then," he said. Kelly settled at Scotty's side, reaching over to grip the back of his waistband.

Scotty slanted him a look.

"We are not getting separated," Kelly said, clipped.

Relief flooding him, Scotty just nodded, not wanting to admit how much he hadn't wanted to risk his footing alone in the river. The bandage had helped, and so had the brief rest, but moving around so much had meant the bleeding had never completely stopped. It was enough that he didn't trust his balance on slippery rocks at all. 

They scrambled down the bank and waded in together, gasping at the shock of the cold water swirling around their legs. Mountain runoff, it had to be – just their luck. They struggled forward, battered by bits of debris being carried along in the current. The river went deep in the middle, plunging them both in up to their shoulders, but Kelly kept them both on their feet and moving forward at an angle, making sure they'd cross over at a random point. 

After a minute, though, Kelly leaned in close. "Listen, I think we should let the current take us a bit."

"What? Why?"

"So they won't have any idea how far downstream we went if they track us this far!"

Scotty grimaced. He was numb from the water everywhere but his side, which was still on fire, and he was pretty sure he'd already picked up more cuts and bruises from all the stuff in the water with them. And he was exhausted. "I don't know if I can make it swimming, man."

"You don't have to swim. I'll keep you afloat. You just hang on." 

If Kelly thought they could do this and that it was their best chance.... "Okay. You tell me when."

Kelly pulled him closer and maneuvered them so they were back-to-chest, wrapping his arms around Scotty, careful to avoid the soaked bandage. "Okay, buddy. Grab hold, then lean back and pick your feet up."

Scotty wrapped numb hands around Kelly's arms as best he could, took a deep breath, and picked his feet off the riverbed as he leaned back. Kelly pushed back as soon as he felt Scotty move, holding Scotty's chest up as high as he could as he aimed them into the current. It caught them with a vengeance, flinging them downstream like a living thing.

Eventually Kelly decided they'd gone far enough, or got cold enough that he was starting to have trouble hanging on, because he got his feet back under him and started towing Scotty toward the far bank. 

It took a minute to register, but when it did, Scotty put his feet down to help, distantly surprised to find out they were only hip-deep now. As soon as he was stable, Kelly shifted his hold back to gripping Scotty's waistband. They waded steadily at an angle, letting the current push them further down. After what felt like an hour, they finally reached the bank, and Scotty scrambled with numb hands and feet to climb the bank next to Kelly. 

He barely even noticed the cold rain that started to fall.

~~~

Rain had turned to sleet and was fast mixing with snow, even under the cover of the trees, and the temperature had plummeted.

"Hey, Kel."

"Yeah," Kelly grunted, using the knife to cut through some stubborn underbrush.

"Listen. Time for you to dig me a hole to hide in and start running."

"What? What are you talking about, Herman? This is no time for jokes."

"Not joking. I can't go anymore, and you have got to get that microfilm to Washington, man." The slice along his ribs was pulsing in a way that was making Scotty nauseated, and he hadn't been able to feel his feet or hands since the river.

"Nope. _We_ have got to get that microfilm to Washington, and tell them they have a leak like the _Titanic_." Kelly tore a small branch aside and froze, then turned back to Scotty, beaming. "The gods have smiled down upon us."

"Are _you_ feeling all right? Man, we are lost in the woods in what's shaping up to be a spring snowstorm. No boots or snowsuits or hats, not even a single pair of mittens between us. Only gods smiling down on us are trickster gods."

"No tricks. I think it's a hunting lodge."

"What?"

Kelly pulled him toward the break in the trees. "A hunting lodge! Looks like no one's home."

Scotty stared in disbelief. That was indeed a hunting lodge, or close enough. "Here's hoping they have a fireplace and some wood to go with that chimney," Scotty said.

"At this point, I'll settle for four walls and a roof," Kelly said frankly. "We gotta get you inside, man. You don't look so good."

There was nothing to say to that, so Scotty didn't try. They pushed out of the treeline into the clearing, and Scotty swallowed a moan as the wind went from bad to howling, snow that stung like sleet driving icy needles into skin that could barely feel it. The only warmth was the sullen heat on his ribs. He stumbled along beside Kelly, teeth clenched and head bowed into the wind, focused on just putting one foot in front of the other.

"Tell you the truth, I wouldn't say no to a pair of mittens, either!" Kelly shouted against the wind.

The steps were slick and Scotty nearly went down, but Kelly caught him before he could do more than stumble. His side blazed again, but not as badly as it would have if he'd fallen on it. Kelly settled him against the porch railing and tried the door -- locked. Of course.

"Got your lockpicks?" Scotty asked mildly.

"I believe I left them in my other coat," Kelly said. "But I have this." He pulled the knife back out and set to work jimmying the door, which opened in short order.

Scotty meant to tell Kelly that they needed to find firewood, and check the flue, and make sure the pipes were working, but walking out of the raging storm and into the dry, windless, relatively warm lodge was a soporific he couldn't resist, and his legs buckled under him. Kelly caught him, frowning, and brushed a hand over his cheek. "Scotty, man, you're _freezing_. We've got to get you out of those clothes."

"Just lemme sleep a little," Scotty muttered.

"No, not yet, okay? You hang on. Here." Kelly steered him into the kitchen and pushed him gently into a chair. "You sit there for a minute, all right? I'll be right back."

Scotty nodded and concentrated on not falling out of the chair as Kelly vanished. Did a pretty good job, too. "A-1 champion chair sitter, that's me," he said proudly when Kelly came back.

"That's right, none better," Kelly agreed. He had a blanket and a towel in his hands. Dry blanket and towel. Scotty couldn't keep his eyes off them. 

"Those for me?"

"Yep, gonna get you all dry and warm, how does that sound?"

"Sounds pretty good," Scotty admitted. "I'm a little cold."

"I bet you are," Kelly said. "But we'll fix that. Hope the pipes work." He moved to the sink, turning one tap on, then the other. "No dice on hot water, but we've got cold and I think the stove should work," Kelly reported. He fished around the cabinets till he found a can of soup, a can opener, and a pot, measuring out a can of water to add to the soup once it went in the pot. He found matches on the fridge. "God bless the well prepared hunter," he muttered, lighting the burner and setting the pot to heat. Once that was going, he fished out another pot to fill with just water, and set that to boil on a second burner. "There we go -- hot soup and hot water, coming right up."

He moved back to Scotty's side. "All right now. Let's get you out of all of this and cleaned up a little, then into something dry, okay?"

"'kay." Even his teeth were chattering now.

Kelly went to work, taking off Scotty's jacket and shirt with sure hands. "Oh, man."

Scotty looked down. The makeshift bandage had seen better days, soaked first with blood then icy, dirty water. The leather belt was swollen tight around it, and Kelly's fingers worked the clasp until it came free. Scotty made an inarticulate sound as his ribcage was freed; he'd been too numb from the water to feel how tight the belt had gotten on his skin, and the ache on his ribs had been buried under the pain of the knife wound. 

"Easy, now," Kelly said, gently pulling the soaked bandage away from the wound. He blew out a relieved breath as he did. "Probably infected, but not too bad. If we keep it clean I think it'll be okay till we can get you to a doctor."

Scotty squinted down at it. The wound looked angry and a little inflamed, but Kelly was right, there were no signs of blood poisoning around it. He sent up a little thank you to Saint Joshua.

"Saint Joshua?"

"Patron saint of spies, man. We learned about him in spy school, remember?"

"Musta missed that day, I guess." Kelly turned away to check the water on the stove, humming a little in indecision. "Barely even warm yet. Gonna have to wait to re-dress that till we have some boiled water, I think."

Scotty nodded. It would just be tempting fate to wash the wound out with more unsterilized water.

"So back to dry," Kelly said, grabbing up a towel and gently scrubbing the wetness on Scotty's skin. Once the worst of it was gone, he slung the towel around Scotty's shoulders and reached for his waistband. "Next," he said cheerfully, and shucked Scotty out of his jeans and drawers with admirable ease, pausing partway through to tug off Scotty's soaked sneakers and socks. He grabbed another towel to rub off the worst of the damp, then ran a critical eye over him. "You're still shivering."

"Mm, but I'm not wet anymore. Thanks, Kel."

Kelly shook his head and whipped the damp towels away, swinging a wool blanket around Scotty's shoulders and over his lap instead. "That should do you more good. And unless I'm mistaken -- " He bounced over to the stove, sticking a finger into the pot of soup. "Ow! Yeah, that's done."

"Well, now it's got your filthy finger in it, though," Scotty protested.

"The heat cooked off any germs," Kelly said, hunting for a bowl and spoon. "Aha." Supplies located, he poured off a generous serving into the bowl, bringing it over to the table. "Now, Alexander, are you going to be a good boy and eat your soup?"

Scotty glared and slid a hand out of the blanket to reach for the spoon, but Kelly pulled it away. 

"Show me how shaky you are first. I don't want you spilling soup all over that nice blanket."

Scotty held his hand flat. It was a little shivery, but not really shaky, which was apparently good enough for Kelly. 

"Okay, you eat up. I'm gonna go see what else I can scrounge."

Scotty focused on the soup, doing his best not to spill anything. It burned going down, and he blinked at the sensation of feeling it travel down his esophagus and into his stomach. It started warming him up from the inside like it was supposed to, though, and after the first couple of swallows the sensation wasn't so odd. 

While he was eating, he could hear Kelly banging around, going in and out what had to be a back door. Every time he did, a cold draft whipped through the house, and Scotty clutched his blanket around him.

By the time Kelly came back to the kitchen, Scotty was barely halfway through, and the soup was cooling fast. 

Kelly checked the stove. "Water's boiling." He bustled around, adding things to the pot to sterilize them. "Just a few more minutes," he promised. "You doing okay?"

"Yeah, 'm okay. Just tired. Still eating," he added, lifting the spoon for proof. 

"Keep going. Soon as you finish up and I can get that bandage replaced, you can get some sleep, all right?"

Scotty nodded again, huddling into his blanket and clutching his spoon. 

Kelly squeezed his shoulder on his way out of the kitchen again. "Shout if that starts to boil over or anything." He vanished, and the banging around started up again.

Scotty stared at the flame under the pot while he finished his soup, the world going dreamy around him. 

Kelly came back a few minutes later, touching him on the shoulder as he passed. "Okay, Scotty?"

"Mm. Yes. 'm okay. Pot didn't boil over."

"And a good thing, too," Kelly said cheerfully. He turned the burner off and busied himself with the pot, washing his hands and rinsing them in a bit of the boiled water before turning back to Scotty with a tray full of the things he'd need.

"Little old to be playing doctor," Scotty said.

Kelly grinned. "Never too old, my man. Here, let's get you sorted out." He pushed the blanket back to expose Scotty's side, leaving it draped around his back to cut the chill as much as possible. "Still not bleeding, that's good," he said, prodding carefully.

Scotty shivered harder in the cool air. "Can't get warm, man."

"I know. It'll be better once this is done," Kelly promised, and reached for a clean cloth and a bowl of the boiled water. He sponged the wound out carefully, trying to get any debris that had made it under the old bandage. Once it was clean and dry, he folded another cloth into a bandage. "Getting pretty good at this, if I do say so myself."

"Got another belt? I've grown partial to the whole belt thing."

"I do indeed," Kelly said, sing-song. "Better than leather, though." He pressed the new bandage against the wound and put Scotty's hand on top of it. "Hold that down, wouldja?" 

Once Scotty had it, Kelly reached behind the tray of sterilized stuff and produced a flannel bathrobe belt. "Ta-da! Am I brilliant, or am I brilliant?"

"You are brilliant," Scotty agreed, as Kelly wrapped the soft fabric around his ribs, pulling it just tight enough to hold the bandage steady.

"There we go," Kelly said, looking pleased at his handiwork. "All right, Jack, let's get you someplace more comfortable." Kelly got an arm around him and started leading him out to the living room.

Scotty flinched. Even through the blanket, Kelly's arm was like ice. "You're cold. And wet. What the hell, Kelly, have you been going outside like that?"

"Yeah, a little." Kelly guided him over to a sofa and eased him down to lie on his side, still wrapped in the blanket. "I found some dry clothes in the bedroom, but not a lot, and I didn't want to get them wet, so I just stayed in what I was wearing. I'm gonna change, though."

"Oh. 'kay." It made sense, and Kelly seemed completely unconcerned about it. Scotty put it out of his mind, his eyes drifting shut. "I think 'm gonna... get a little sleep."

Kelly ran a hand lightly across his head. "Okay, Scotty, you sleep."

When he opened his eyes again, Kelly was kneeling on the hearth wearing what looked like flannel pajamas, coaxing a tiny flame out of tinder and kindling, several hours' worth of wood piled neatly off to the side. Scotty blinked at him, raising a shaking hand to scrub at tired eyes. "Kel." He cleared his throat and tried again. "Kelly."

"Hey, Sleeping Beauty awakes!" Kelly said cheerfully, twisting around to look at him. "I was starting to think I'd have to resort to more traditional methods." His eyes were sharp and assessing, belying the light tone. "How're you feeling?"

Scotty shrugged, wincing at the pull across his middle. "I'll live. Thanks for all this, by the way." He waved a hand at the blanket and his bare self inside it. 

"Sure," Kelly said, still lightly, still too sharp-eyed. "You should probably be in the bed, but there's no fire in there."

"I'm fine, man." Scotty thought about sitting up to prove it but then thought better of it. "Don't suppose you found any guns lying around this here hunting lodge?"

"Nope."

"Figures."

"Yep." Kelly slanted him a wry grin. 

"That's a lot of wood," Scotty said carefully, gesturing at the pile. 

"There's a shed out back full of it. Whoever owns this place does a good job keeping it up -- we'll have to find a way to pay them back for the hospitality. And I figured we'd be here till the storm blows over, maybe a bit longer."

"Kel – "

"Don't 'Kel' me, now, man. The bad guys lost our trail hours ago, and even if they didn't, no one's going anywhere in this storm. Everything's iced up, and I can't even see the treeline anymore, that snow's so heavy. So we stay here for a couple of days, dry off, warm up, have some nice soup, and when the weather breaks, we hightail it outta here."

"Got it all worked out," Scotty murmured, eyes drooping again. "Gotta admit, warming up sounds nice. I'm still kinda cold, Kel."

"Yeah, I figured you might be," Kelly said softly. "You got chilled right down to the _bone_ , Jack. Don't worry, we'll get you warmed up."

Scotty meant to answer, he really did, but next thing he knew, he was waking up again, and trying to make sense of the image of Kelly wrestling a mattress into position in front of the fire, now crackling merrily away. The rest of the room was dimmer, more shadowy; sun must have set behind the storm. 

"Kel?"

"Yep, just give me a sec -- there!" The mattress fell with a thump and a puff of dust, and Kelly stepped back, looking pleased with himself before he turned to Scotty. "How you doin', Jack?"

"Keep falling asleep."

"Yeah, I noticed that." 

"You cold, Kel? I'm still kinda cold."

"Aha, well, you see, that would be the reason for my redecorating."

"I was wondering about that."

"Yes. Indeed. I figured, we get you closer to the fire, on something more comfortable, and you'll warm up some. See?"

It made sense, except for how it would mean leaving this perfectly nice couch. Before he could say that, though, Kelly was there, easing him up first to sitting, then standing, then across the room and down onto the mattress.

"Okay, this is definitely more comfortable," he admitted, burying his nose deeper in the blanket.

Kelly just chuckled and went to tidy up the kitchen, if the noise was any indication. Scotty let his eyes close.

This time, though, he just drifted, feeling just enough better that he couldn't zonk out. He could still hear Kelly moving around, back and forth from kitchen to what had to be the bedroom to the living room, checking doors and windows and making little thumps as he moved things around. Every time he came near Scotty, he bent to check on him, brushing a hand against Scotty's skin to make sure he was really warming up. 

Scotty floated more gently on a peaceful sea of security with each touch, slowly waking up properly but without a worry in the world. Finally, Kelly brushed his cheek and murmured, "Found another blanket, gonna put it on you, okay?"

Scotty made a quiet sound and shifted, sighing as the extra weight was draped over him. Kelly checked his forehead then moved away, but not very far; Scotty could hear him poking at the fireplace, maybe adding another log or rearranging the wood already there.

He blinked open his eyes, wanting to see, and there was Kelly, limned in firelight in an otherwise dark room, intent on keeping the fire bright and warm. Scotty hummed quietly to himself at the sight, smiling a little as Kelly gave one final poke and made a satisfied sound, then rose to his feet to go back to doing whatever else he was doing. 

Scotty reached out and caught Kelly's bare ankle as he bustled by, stopping Kelly in his tracks.

"Scotty?"

Scotty tugged. "'m still cold, Kelly."

Kelly ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah. I know. I'm working on it."

"And you have to be ready to drop." Scotty squeezed gently. "C'mon, now."

Kelly quirked a smile down at him. "All right, Scotty. Let's both get warm, huh?" He dropped down on the mattress behind Scotty, shucking out of his pajama top and sliding under the blankets to tuck up against Scotty, chest to back. 

He was like a radiator, and Scotty leaned back into him, soaking up Kelly's heat, going straight from his skin into his belly and warming him all the way through. This was what he'd wanted.

Kelly carefully slid an arm over him, hand pressing lightly over Scotty's chest. Scotty reached up and curled his hand around Kelly's, squeezing for an instant. He closed his eyes, feeling true sleep starting to claim him.

"I've got you, Scotty," Kelly murmured in his ear, thumb stroking gently across Scotty's skin. "I've got you."


End file.
